Heat exchange device



Sept. 6, 1932..

, A. B. MODINE mm EXCHANGE DEVICE Filed Oct. 21 1929 s Sheets-Sheet 1 uqi' hurfi, Madine HM d-M P 6, 1932- A. a. MODINE' 1,875,639

HEAT EXCHANGE DEVICE r1194 Oct. 21, 1929 SSheetk-Sheet 2 6773 van wd%e5,- I eflTi/IHTB. Madvre Sept. 6, 1932. A. B. MODINE HEAT EXCHANGEDEVICE Filed Oct. 21 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 vices and has as its PatentedSept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A RTHUR B. MODINE, OF RACTNE,WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO MODINE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF RACINE,WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN HEAT EXCHANGE DEVICE Applicationfiled October 21, 1929. Serial No. 401,204.

The invention relates to heat exchange deprincipal object the productionof a heat exchange device of sheet material which is pressed orotherwise formed in a manner capable of providing a fluid inlet andoutlet and a plurality of fluid passages which communicate with theinlet and outlet passages.

The invention contemplates the production of a heat exchange device ofone or more sheets of material formed in the manner above referred towhich, by virtue of the manner in which the sheet is pressed, is capableof producing a heat exchange device having the above mentioned fluidpassages, when the sheets are arranged in a certain relation to...

each other.

It is another principal object of the inven- 7 connects and forms acommunication between fluid passages formed by the ridges providedbetween the recesses.

A further object of the invention is to provide, a heat exchange deviceconstructed as above outlined having a portion extended in a manner toprovide a grille.

Another object of the invention is to provide a heat exchange deviceformed of relatively thin material which is pressed as above referred toand to provide said structure with means for heating air by eitherheated fluid or liquid, said means being designed toallow air to flowbetween elements thereof and he come heated by contact with said means.

The invention has as an additional object arranging this heating meanspreferably at the lower portion of the device so that the heatedair maybe discharged into a duct located above said heating means from whichduct the heated air is discharged into the room to be heated.

Another object of the invention is to encase a portion of the structurein a manner,

between said walls and be employed;

to employ one wall of the structure for heating the air by directcontact therewith, with. a space provided between said Wall and anotherwall of the case so that air may pass thereby heat the air by directcontact and have another portion of the air heated and casing byconvection.

The invention has these and other objects, all of which will beexplained in detail and more readily understood when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which severaliembodiments ofwhich the invention is susceptible are illustrated, it being obviousthat other changes and modifications may be resorted to withoutdepartingfrom the spirit of the appended claims forming a part thereof.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a heat exchange device constructedaccording to one embodiment of this invention;

' Fig. 2 is a section taken on line 2-2 of F i 1 Fig.1) is a viewsimilar to Fig. 2 showing a slightly modified arrangement which may Fig.4 is a section taken on line 4-4.- of Fig. 2

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a sheet formed in a manner to be employedto produce a heater element such as shown in Figs. 1 to 4.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of aheat exchange device constructedaccording to the invention;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, certain parts being broken away forthe purpose of illustration Fig. 8 is a front view of a modifiedconstruction;

Figs. 9 and 10 are sectional views respectivelydtaken on lines 99 and1010 of Fig. 8; an

Fig. 11 is a section taken on line 11--11 of Fig. 10.

As before stated, it is contemplated to form a heat exchange device ofsheet mate rial which is pressed or otherwise formed to provide aplurality of recesses and ridges and parallely arranged longitudinallyextending inlet and outlet passages which are arranged discharged fromthe transversely to the first mentioned fluid passages and communicatetherewith. It is understood that it is contemplated to form a bent uponitself to form the unit, or by arranging similarly shaped separatesheets relative- "portions of the further resist pressures applied bythe heat- E to each other in a manner to provide the uid assages, theelements of the structure thus ormed being secured together so as tocomplete and form a leak-proof construction which will withstandpressures applied by the heating medium.

To produce a heat exchange unit as above referred to, a sheet is pressedor otherwise acted upon to form a plurality of parallelly arrangedrecesses 10, each recess being divided or separated from an adjacentrecess through means of a ridge such as 11 which is formed upon theformation of the recesses 10. It will be noted that the recesses 10 allproject in one direction from one face or plane of the sheet such' as 12and that said recesses terminate a suitable distance from thelongitudinal edges of the sheet to thus provide "the portions 13 and 14.It will be noted that the portions such as 13 and 14 are in the. sameplane as the terminations of the ridges 11 and each of these portionsare bent at the edges thereof to produce the side and edge flanges suchas 15 and 16. A sheet formed in the manner just referred to may bereadily arranged with respect to another similarly shaped sheet so thatthe recessed portions 10 of one sheet abut or contact with the recessedportions 10 of another sheet which is placed in parallel abuttingrelation to the first mentioned sheet. The flanges such as 15 and 16 ofeach of the sheets are then brazed,'welded or otherwise secured to eachother which produces a unit having the parallel longitudinally extendinginlet and outlet passages respectively designated 17 and 18 whichcommunicate with the transversely arranged'passages such as 19 formed byand between the recesses 10 which are also welded at certain pointsthroughout their length as indicated at 20 to secure these structure. toeach other to ing fluid. It willbe noted that by forming the sheetsso asto produce the ridges 11 a longitudinally extending cavity such as 21 isformed between the recesses 10, and therefore, when the recessedportions of the separate sheets are brought into engagement with eachother as shown in Fig. 4, a pluralit of parallel passages 19 are formedthrong hich water may circulate from the inlet he outlet.

By referring to Fig. 2 it will be noted that the recessed portionslO ofone sheet are secured to the recessed portions of another sheet and thatthe terminations such as 22 of the recesses form part of a passage orconnection are formed by between one of the passages such as 19 toanother adjacent or similar passage and that the inlet and outletpassages 17 and 18 thus formed are in direct communication with thetransverse passages such as 19 which will thus allow the heating mediumto freely circulate from one passage such as 17 through the transversepassages 19 and-into the passsage 18. When it is desired to construct aradiator of a single sheet instead of a plu-,

rality of sheets the structure shown in Fig. 5, may be employed. To thisend the blank from which this last mentioned structure is formedwill-include a web 23 which connects the two sections of the sheettogether. It is understood that the sections such as 24 and 25 of thissheet are provided with ridges and recesses and flanges such as thosereferred to in the explanation of the structure disclosed in Fig. 4.

It is also contemplated to provide a heat exchange device which isformed of relatively thin gauged material with a grille 26, the materialof the sheet being bent and pressed in a manner to form the heatingfluid-passages above referred to. To provide the grille, the material ofone edge of the sheet may be extended a suitable distance beyond theterminations of the recesses and be provided with a plurality ofopenings 28. To fabricate a heat exchange unit having a grille, arelatively fiat sheet having the above mentioned recesses and ridgesformed therein may have another sheet associated therewith, the latterof which has a circumferential flange such as 29 extending substantiallyaround the periphery of the sheet such as 30, it being understood thatthis last mentioned sheet'is provided with recesses and ridgesrespectively designated 31 and 32 and is arranged relatively to thesheet 27 so that the flange 29 may be welded to the sheet 27, it beingunderstood that the recesses and ridges of the respective sheets 27 and30 of this construction are arranged with respect to each other so as toform inlet and outlet passages and the communicating transverselyarranged passages. Another method of providing the grille is shown inFig. 2; in this latter construction the heater is formed in a mannersimilar to that previously described and a separate strip 33 havingapertures 34 is welded or otherwise secured to an edge of the heater.The invention also contemplates a structure such as that above referredto having auxiliary heat exchange means combined therewith. This meansmay be in fins, fluid passages or fluid passages having fins. Thestructure disclosed in Fig. 2, contemplates the use of fins which aresecured near the lowermost end of the heater unit and corrugating astrip of metal and securing said strip to one side of the heat exchangedevice, thus providing a plurality of air passages the'form of heatradiating 34"between which air may pass, be heated and be dischargedthrough the openings such as 28 provided in the grille. If desired, thisstructure may be encased. said structure and the casing thereforproviding a stack, the wall 35 of the stack having the arcuate wall 36arranged adjacent the grille in a manner to direct the heated airthrough the grille. The wall 35 is extended beyond the connectiontherewith of the arcuate member 36to thus provide a water chamber 37which is closed by a cover plate 38 and provides a humidifier forhumidifying the air contained in the room. If so desired, a damper 39may be interposed between the grille and the fins 34 to control thepassage of heated air through the grille. It is, of course, understoodthat the heat exchange device formed of the relatively thin sheetwill beprovided with collars or nipples such as 40 which are brazed orotherwise secured in place to thus provide means for connecting thefluid supply and discharge pipes respectively designated 42 and 43.

-As before stated, the invention contemplates the utilization of meanswhereby fluid contained in said heat exchange device may be circulatedthrough an auxiliary heater element to further increase the heatingcapacity of the structure. A means for accomplishing this is illustratedin Figs. 9 and 11.

Referring now to Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, there is shown here a heatexchange device 50 which is arranged in a recess 51 of a wall 52 insubstantially the same manner as in the other embodiment. This devicecomprises a hollow member 55 which comprises a plurality ofsubstantially vertical tubular members 56 connected'by means of webs 57.In its preferred embodiment, the member 55 is formed from a pair ofsimilar corrugated plates 58 and 58 which are secured together aroundtheir periphery as by welding or the like, as indicated at 59 (Fig. 10)The plates 58 and 58'are formed andjoined in such a manner as to providechannels 60 and 61 at the top and bottom, respectively, of the unit.

Secured to'the lower portion of the device, so as to project laterallytherefrom and communicating with the channel 61 by means of tubes 63 area pair of oppositely disposed tanks 65 communicating with each otherbymeans of tubes 66, these tubes being preferably formed of a heatconducting metal. A plurality of plates or vanes 68 are attached to thetubes 66 as by means of soldering, welding, or the like, so as to be ineffective heat conducting engagement therewith, these plates being alsoof. heat conducting material.

Conduits 69 and 70 are provided for the inlet and outlet respectively ofheating fluid and spaces are provided in the top and bottom of theheating unit as in the previous embodiment. In the operation of thedevice when it is heated, a current of air is induced to flow throughthe space at the bottom of the heatin unit 50, passing upwardly betweenthe tu es 66 and plates 68 so as to make effective heat exchangingcontact therewith. Continuing its flow upwardly the air will pass incontact with the corrugated rear surface of the plate 58' where afurther heat transfer will take place. The air will then flow out of therecess in the wall through the space provided between the end of therecess and the top of the heat exchange unit 50 and into the room.

The plates 58 and 58 may or may not be secured to each other along thewebs 57. If not secured along these points, obviously free circulationof the heat exchange fluid between the tubes 56 is permitted. Thechannel 61 serves to drain water of condensation from the pockets 56,tubes 66 and tanks 65.

From the foregoing description, it'is manifest that the structureemployed provides transverse passages which communicate with the inletand outlet passages, which by virtue of the relatively thin materialemployed produces a heat exchange unit which is relatively light inweight and which will readily compensate for expansion and contraction.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. A heat exchange device comprised of sheet material, said sheet havinga plurality of parallel longitudinally extending outwardly facingdepressions having parallel edges defining said depressions, thematerial of said sheet at one edge of the depressions'being bent at saidedge to provide an edge of an adjacent depression and provide a hollowridge, the hollow of which faces in a direction opposite to thedepression, the hollow of the ridge being arranged opposite the hollowof another ridge andthus providing a passage, the material of the sheetat the terminations of the depressions being in the plane of the sheetand having a flange extending in the direction of the depression toprovide an element of passages respectively arranged transversely of andwhich communicate with said passages formed by said ridges and having aflange and opposed edges extending in the direction of said recessproviding an element of a side wall of said radiator.

2 A heat exchange device comprised of sheet material, the material ofthe sheet being between said recesses,

the recesses being extended from one face of the sheet with the ridgesin the plane of the sheet having flanges at the edges thereof, theterminations of said depressions being spaced from the opposite ends ofthe sheet and said last mentioned portions of the sheet having a wallwhich is in the plane of said ridges, the hollow ridges and saidrecesses being respectively arranged opposite each other to providetubular passages at said ridges which communicate with said transversepassages, adjacent walls of a pair of said recesses providing one wallof the passages provided by the hollow ridges, said flanges provided atthe edges of the sheet providing walls at said edges respectivelyproviding end walls of said radiator and walls of said transversepassage.

3. A heat exchange sheet of material, the marginal edges of which areformed to providea flange at said edges, said sheet being of saidflanges to provide a plurality of longitudinally extending recesses,which face in a direction opposite to the direction of said flanges,ranged in spaced relation to the marginal edges of said sheet, thedepressed portions of an adjacent pair of said recesses providing wallsof a passage arranged between said depressed portions.

4. A radiator comprised of sections, each of which has a plurality ofparallel depressions spaced from each other to provide hollow ridgesbetween said depressions, said depressions terminating a distance fromopposite edges of said sections to provide a portion at said ends whichis in the lane of said sheet, said sections having a ange provided atthe edges thereof extending in the direction of said depressions toprovide top, bottom and side walls, the material of the sheet at theterminations of said depressions defining openings leading to the hollowridges and providing one wall of passages respectively arranged at theopposite another wall of ends of said. depressions, which is formed bythat portion of the sheet which is located at the opposite ends of saiddepressions and is in the plane of said sheet.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 2nd day ofOctober-A. 1).,

ARTHUR B. MODINE.

being formed to provide passages transverse of said depressions anddevice formed of a.

depressed in the direction the ends of said recesses being ar-'

